


Knee

by orphan_account



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Childhood Friends, Kinda, M/M, Pining, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 09:11:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6278485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Oikawa hurts his knee (again) and Iwa is a concerned mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Knee

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so this is old but not absolutely terrible so I'll post it. I wrote it a while back to experiment with first person, which I hate and literally never use, but I'm kinda proud of it. Still don't like using first person though. Um, it's set in the duo's first year. The manga doesn't specifically state what Oik's injury is/when he was injured, so I made him break his knee when he was young, then reinjure it during high school, mainly because that's what happened with me. So I wrote from experience yo. Anyways, this isn't too iwaoi centric or anything, but it's still okay. :)

Smack, smack, smack. One lean leg after another. My white running shoes were soaked and stained by the many puddles that I had splashed through. Soft sepia curls were plastered to my head by the cool drizzle. A small twinge came from my right kneecap each time my foot beat against the slippery pavement.

As my lungs screamed for oxygen and lactic acid pooled in my gut I checked my watch. Scoffed. Increased my speed. Running was not my strong suit, but 3 minutes was an achievable goal for a kilometer. The season had ended 2 weeks ago with a soul crushing defeat at the hands of Shiratorizawa, but I was training harder than ever. Damn Ushijima. He could run a kilometer in 2:45 flat without even breaking a sweat. I needed to go faster. 

Familiar houses streaked past, I flew. The 1:30 mark passed yet I wasn't even at the halfway mark, a lone streetlamp that taunted me as it sat unmoving in the distance. I managed to speed up, though my legs were lead and the twinge in my knee was a now a stab.

It had been years, ages since I had broken it. I was a stupid kid, I did a lot of stupid things. If it weren't for Iwazumi's insight I'd have ended up in the hospital more than I did.

He was the one who had carried me home after I broke my knee, both of us coated in blood, dirt, and snotty tears. We had been playing Knights and Aliens, a game of our own invention. I was the intergalactic alien explorer and Iwa played the part of my loyal knight. After a long debate on what our quest should be, it was decided that we were to hunt for dragons.

Brimming with confidence I claimed that dragons loved sitting in tall trees. So, we were off to the old park down the street to pick out the biggest tree, which surely held our culprit. Racing down the cracked and aged asphalt I could already see the tallest one, an ancient oak whose jade leaves fluttered happily in the breeze. Giggling, I left Iwa in my dust and dashed towards my goal. Clinging onto a low branch as soon as I reached the wide trunk, I hoisted myself aloft. As I sat atop the world I gave my biggest gap toothed grin to the cheering audience. My cheering audience was a grumpy Iwazumi, out of breath with scrunched brows.

"Oikawa, you left me behind. That was mean," Iwazumi complained, crossing his arms. In response I stuck my pink tongue out at him. 

"Not my fault you're so slow Iwa-chan!" Turning, I stood up on shaky legs, grasping onto the branch above my head for support. "Watch how high I can climb! Bet I can make it to the top." My fingers splayed and dug into the tree, finding leverage as I mounted the second branch, then the third and fourth. By the fifth branch I looked down and saw that I was pretty far up from the grassy ground, much higher than I originally thought. I was beginning to regret my spur of the moment decision. That's when I saw Iwa. During normal circumstances I would have teased him for the look of absolute horror plastered across his face, but I was too focused on how far away the ground was to care. 

"Tooru, you're gonna fall and break your stupid head open! Come down!" he shouted, fear creeping into the edge of his voice. I mutely nodded, twisting around as I looked for a branch to grab. There, right below my waist was a sturdy looking one that would allow me to get farther down. Slowly, I bent forwards, fingers outstretched as far as they could go because I was so close.

Slip.

Neon green flip flops flew past my face as a shriek seeped out of my throat. The ground came up fast and I groped, fumbled, reached for something, anything. Leaves. Leaves fluttered through my small fingers. My body plowed through branches; crash, bash, whump, thump.

I couldn't breathe, my world was black. 

-

Everything hurt. Cracking an eye open, I squinted in the summer sunlight. Someone was over my face, leaning down, popsicle breath tickling my nose. Something wet dribbled onto my cheek, I wiped it away. Tears; someone was crying. Was I crying? He came into focus then; a red faced, angry, tear stained Iwazumi, bent down right over me. I blinked.

"Tooru!" he was shaking me and sobbing, dripping snot on me. Looking back, Iwa probably cried more than I did. Poor kid, back then he was such a softie. He must have felt responsible for me, the idiot.

Eventually, I calmed him down enough to stop his blubbering. "I'm sure I'm okay, Iwa-chan, I'll be just fine! It doesn't even hurt anymore, I promise!" I assured him. Biting my cheek, I pushed myself up off of the warm dirt, putting all of my weight onto my left leg and swaying like a blade of grass. When I tried to move my other leg, I could feel the broken pieces grating together, sandpaper on sandpaper. 

The leaves up above were spinning, round and round, a lime blur. I could feel the Earth tilting, falling away, and little sparks jumped up around my vision, pretty galaxies. Stubby fingers dug into my back, dusty arms wrapped about my waist. Iwa cradled me, eyes blown wide with concern. Giggling at his fear, I laced my fingers in his Pokémon shirt. Holding me to his chest, he struggled, hoisted my lanky legs up. Clutching onto him, I wiped my nose on Charzard and drifted into unconsciousness. 

Fluttering open, my eyes rested on a tiny inchworm crawling up my arm. I was plodding along, weightless. Strained puffs of air. Sweat beads raced down Iwazumi's tan neck. Arms shook with exertion. Slowly craning my neck, I saw a Power Rangers bicycle a few steps ahead. Iwa's Power Rangers bicycle. He had carried me all the way home, about 11 blocks. 

"MOM! MOM PLEASE HELP" Iwa shouted, stopping at the screen door. I traced freckles on his arm and smiled at the inchworm. My knee didn't hurt anymore, my leg was numb and limp, blood oozing down my shin. Clanging pots and thuds came from within the house.

"HAJIME? HAJIME!" Iwazumi-san was out in a flash, apron fluttering like a cape. Dread was painted onto her pretty features. Relief splashed across her eyes when she saw her son. She let out a small gasp when she noticed me. "Tooru, what happened?!? Are you okay?" Dark strands of hair floated about her, I grinned. 

"I think I broke something, Iwazumi-san. I was climbing up in this mega tree and I slipped. Sorry, I didn't mean to. Iwa cried a lot. My knee really hurts. Iwa-chan carried me home. Thanks Iwa-chan." I mumbled. I was delirious, bruised, and tired. A nap sounded great, so I closed my eyes. I felt Iwazumi-san's slender arms cover me up and I fell asleep to Iwa's frantic chatter.

-

I healed quickly on gross hospital food and Iwazumi's visits. He would sneak me in milk bread and action figures, in return I promised to go bug hunting with him as soon as I got out. The doctors assured my parents that it would heal completely, and in 6 months time I would be good as new. Given that I avoid over-exertion, the knee would offer little to no trouble whatsoever.

Yeah, right.

Every plodding stride that I took, every footfall, a searing flash of pain radiated from my kneecap. The rain had started up again with a vengeance, completely soaking me to the bone. Openly limping, I hobbled along as fast as I could manage, lungs on fire and gasping for breath. Tears seeped out of my eyes and mixed with the rain. Almost there, come on Tooru, make it, you have to make it. My heart beat in my ears along with the drumming of the rain. Black dots shimmered in the corners of my vision.

Turning the corner, my shoe lodged into a crevice in the pavement. I didn't realize it until I was soaring forward, leg twisting about gracefully, flinging water droplets skyward. A pop, a scream, the squelch of mud, then silence. 

Splayed across the sidewalk, coated in mud, I shivered. I could taste the earth inside my mouth and the tang of my own blood. Drawing myself up, I looked down at my legs. Both were scraped and red. My knee was swollen from the run, but appeared unharmed. Appeared. When I tried to move it, I groaned in agony.

I'd really done it. Iwa was always on my case about overworking myself, how I'd really regret it one of these days etc etc. My body had finally given out on me. 

Unzipping my jacket pocket I grabbed my cell. As soon as my fingers closed around it I felt like throwing up. Sliding it out, my worst fears were confirmed. The screen had shattered into a million tiny shards, a pathetic kaleidoscope. I desperately jammed the home button; nothing happened. I would have to walk home. 

Tossing my muddy broken phone in the street I cursed. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was so stupid. Slowly, I rose to my feet and put weight on my shaking leg. Letting out a low cry of pain, I forced myself to move. My bad knee could barely support any weight before collapsing, yet I trudged on. Agonizingly slow, I made my way back home. Cars passed me, I paid no attention to them. The rain remained, my only friend. Time passed, yet I still walked. Mother was probably getting worried. Oh well.

Cotton candy clouds floated up above. My knee had swollen to the size of a mango. A red, black, and blue mango. Faint shouting could be heard echoing in the distance. I was so cold, I had never been that cold before. My knee was practically immoveable, I couldn't even walk anymore. Plopping down in the middle of a blue sidewalk puddle and leaning against a fence, I wrapped my arms about myself and tried to weep; I couldn't. I was so exhausted and hurt and sad and angry that I was past tears, I was empty. Defeated, I sat there. Minutes, hours, days, years past. Echoes became louder. Then, I heard my name. Someone was calling my name.

Footsteps thundered like gunshots. "Oikawa! Oikawa!" My name was being yelled frantically, over and over. I looked up. Iwazumi was jogging towards me, a mess of anger, worry, and fear. "Oikawa. What- why are..." he cut off, out of breath. Iwa was drenched, his usual short spiky hair stuck to his forehead. He saw my knee. Pure, unbridled rage filled his face. 

"No wonder you were missing for so long! What the HELL did you do? You absolute idiot! I told you, I fucking TOLD you this would happen! You don't care though! You just had to keep pushing it, pushing yourself until you finally broke! Now look what you've done. Fuck, you might have just put yourself out of volleyball, all because you didn't know when to stop. What about getting a scholarship? We were going to go to university together. You can't... you can't do this to yourself. Don't hurt yourself like this." I hadn't seen him so angry in years. 

Just as soon as his tirade started, it stopped. He looked at my face, coated in blood, mud, and once again, tears. I saw something in his eyes. Not pity, but sadnesss. Kneeling down, he placed his warm hand onto my grimy shoulder. "Tooru. I'm here, okay? It's not just you. I promise, I will do everything I can next year to take us to nationals. To win nationals. All of us will. You just have to let go and take it easy. We'll be alright, I swear." Iwazumi sighed. "Come on, Tooru. Let's go home." Miraculously, I smiled, a small flicker of a thing. Iwa saw it though, and sighed in relief. 

I flinched as I tried to get up, my knee angry and painful. Wordlessly, Iwazumi hoisted me off of the rain soaked ground with little more than a grunt. "Somehow I always end up carrying you everywhere. I should start charging. Probably make a killing." 

"Shut up, Iwa-chan." I flicked his arm, spattering it with mud. Glancing down, he smirked. 

"Childish as always. A big, overgrown 5 year old." He shot back. 

I gasped in mock horror. "Rude, Iwa-chan! Always so cruel. And besides, no 5 year old could ever look this pretty!" Flicking my hair and effectively spraying mud everywhere I flashed a grin, teeth red from my bloody lip. Iwazumi snickered and chose to ignore my charm. It felt nice to slip back into our typical banter, though I was still terrified over my knee. At least I got a free ride back from a warm Iwazumi. Yeah, it could've probably turned out worse. 

I realized the rain stopped. A lone leaf fluttered in the breeze. I didn't know what to say as I settled into the swaying of Iwa's arms. "I'm sorry," was what I settled with. No, that didn't say everything. 

Iwa hummed. 

"Thank you, Hajime." Not the right three words, but they worked for now.

**Author's Note:**

> Eyy thanks for reading. Comments give me life, as I am a complete chatterbox and will reply to every one. This is probs just going to remain a standalone piece unless people really want more (because fuck writing 1st person holy shit). Have a nice day!


End file.
